Former Romney adviser helping prep Perry

Gov. Rick Perry’s eyewear isn’t the only new thing about his approach to a presidential run this time.

As we’ve reported, Perry is taking a new approach to getting ready for a potential bid for the 2016 GOP nod that includes regular policy briefings. That kind of preparation is essential if he’s going to be taken seriously, given his unsure footing last time around.

His arsenal of advisers includes Mitt Romney’s 2012 policy director, Lanhee Chen, Real Clear Politics reports. It says Chen will be in Austin this month “to help lead a small tutorial and private discussion with Perry on health care policy.”

“My personal view is I’m happy to help anyone who’s entertaining the thought of running in 2016 on the Republican side,” Chen told Real Clear Politics. He said he also has spoken with Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal.

Perry has met with “foreign policy intellectuals largely from the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party,” Real Clear Politics said, “including former State Department counselor Eliot Cohen, former Under Secretary of State Bob Joseph, and Council on Foreign Relations fellow Elliott Abrams.”